Soils are three-dimensional natural landscape elements and integral parts of all terrestrial ecosystems. They store more organic carbon than the atmosphere or the biosphere and are therefore extremely relevant to the global carbon cycle. They are characterized by an enormous variety of their chemical, physical and biological properties, which form in interaction with different site factors. A good overview of the different types of soil can be found here.

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The reversible storage of organic carbon is an important soil function, which differs greatly in its temporal dynamics and size between different soils. Land use and management changes as well as climate change induce increasing or decreasing soil carbon stocks. Even under the same site conditions (climate, geology, water balance), the carbon reserve of a soil can shift up or down depending on its use by 50%. Important controls are the amount of organic material entering the soil and the rates at which this material is converted and mineralized in the soil. Both controls can be influenced by humans; this is the basis for the use of soils as potential carbon sinks.

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